EDMONTON - The really sad part about Tuesday night is that the Edmonton Oilers — desperate to improve on their recent performances — actually did.

Stacked up against a 3-1 loss to 30th-place Buffalo and an 8-1 spanking by Calgary, dropping a 5-2 decision to the San Jose Sharks was actually their best game of the week.

Yes, things are that bad in the Never-Ending Rebuild. And with the Oilers outscored 16-4 in their last three home games, the end of Season Eight can’t come soon enough.

“It’s just one of those efforts where you have to take whatever you can from it,” said Taylor Hall, in a dressing room full of teammates trying to explain their 48th loss in 73 games. “There was so much negativity swirling around outside our club that tonight would have been a huge night to get a convincing win but that’s not the way it happened.

“So we’re kind of stuck in the middle now — we have to take what we can from it and try and stay as positive as we can. Make sure we keep building and building until we get back to where we were.”